


Maybe For Good This Time

by Lucky107



Series: Rock 'n' Roll High School [13]
Category: Bully (Video Games)
Genre: Gen, Mischief, Swearing, Underage Smoking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-15
Updated: 2016-10-15
Packaged: 2018-08-22 15:02:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 868
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8290066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lucky107/pseuds/Lucky107
Summary: She doesn't know when that officially became a 'thing', or even when the guys took a shine to the kid, but they did.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Bobby's Back - Brian Setzer - 1986

**April, 2007**

"Hey!" An announces, drawing everyone's attention to the naked door frame. "Jimmy's here!"

She doesn't know when that officially became a 'thing', or even when the guys took a shine to the kid, but they did. The whole lot of them. When Jimmy shows his face around the tenements in search of some reliable muscle, they trip over each other in a race to be the first in line.

An jumps down from her spot on the edge of a pool table, ever quick with a cigarette - but Jimmy declines. "Sorry, I'm back in class once I'm done here. I'll take a rain check."

"You looked tense is all," she says as she tucks the carton back into her pocket with a shrug. "Thought it might help."

On account of his not-so-secret fling with Lola Lombardi, Jimmy never quite knows where he stands with An. Every other boy who has so much as _looked_ at her has wound up in the infirmary, so he considers An's offer for a smoke to be a gesture of good faith. At the very least, her posture is still open and non-threatening.

"I _could_ use your help."

An says nothing, but blows chalky white smoke rings as if to punctuate her attitude-driven expectation.

"Derby Harrington—"

"—don't bring that shit in here—"

"—he believes that _you_ stole some boxing trophies from Glass Jaw," Jimmy explains. "I tried to reason with him, but the thing is, he _really_ wants those trophies back. And if I can't get them back - peacefully - real soon, New Coventry is bound to have another fight—"

"—rumble," An corrects, completely ignoring the part about the theft, but the hard, side-long stare Jimmy gives her is hard to ignore. "I have a past, okay? But I've got nothin' to do with this one, kid. You're barkin' up the wrong damn tree."

Jimmy crosses his arms like a disappointed parent. "An."

"Look, Jimbo, none of us got no use for a bunch of dumb trophies. You took care of all that shit - does the end _really_ justify the means, if we go 'n' muck it all back up?" She drops her cigarette into the rotten floorboards and crushes it out with the toe of her black sneaker. "I'd give 'em up if I had 'em, I swear I would, but I ain't got 'em and that's the truth."

"Do you have any idea who might?" He asks, unashamed by his lack of leads.

If he doesn't get something - and soon - everything that he's worked so hard to build will fall to ruin.

Derby Harrington is _pissed_.

An thinks long and hard about who might want to steal a bunch of old trophies, but it's the sound of sirens outside - a common sound in the heart of New Coventry - that sparks a runaway trail of thought. When Johnny got out of Happy Volts, he was so furious that he shut New Coventry down and it took An a long time to bring him back around to the idea that Jimmy was still an ally. That hadn't been those trust fund babies, though. The Happy Volts stunt had been the result of an untraceable phone call made from the Blue Skies Industrial Park.

"Yeah," An finally concludes. "I think I do. Meet me back here after your class lets out and we'll go check it out."

\- - -

It comes as no surprise to An that the Blue Skies Industrial Park is still a dump.

An hasn't been back to her old hangout since she began attending Bullworth Academy a little over three years ago and she's made a point of _not_ wearing her uniform for the homecoming. With a clear and sober head, the place gives her the chills. Between the skeletons in these closets and all of the recent goings-on, there's no nostalgia in being back.

"Well, this is certainly a nice neighborhood," Jimmy muses as he steps down off the bus and catches his first real glimpse of Blue Skies.

Beside him, An snorts with laughter. "C'mon, they oughta be hangin' out up this way."

The Spencer Shipping Warehouse.

Of course.

Jimmy can do the math: this is Tad Spencer's family business. The dropouts may be book dumb, but they sure know how to stage a perfect storm in the street - that is, if they're behind it at all. Something about the precision of it all reeks of Gary Smith and that sets Jimmy in a sour mood.

"Spencer's Warehouse, huh?" He jokes. "I bet Tad will be _thrilled_ to hear about this."

"Maybe _I_ oughta be the one to break the news," An reciprocates, but she stops short of the sidewalk's end. "You need to be careful with these guys, you hear me? They ain't your average run-of-the-mill bully - these guys're _lawless_."

There's real fear in her voice as she bestows her warning - fear that Jimmy has never heard in An before - and it's then that he realises she's afraid to confront these ghosts from her past. Given the aggression she brought with her to Bullworth Academy, of course, he has no doubt in his mind that she ought to be.

So, he jokes: "Anarchists. _Great_."

"Give 'em hell, James."


End file.
